Stroll takes maiden pole for Paul Ricard opener

Lance Stroll took his maiden FIA European Formula 3 Championship pole position for the season opening race of the season in Paul Ricard on Friday.

The Canadian, amongst the favourites for the championship in his sophomore season with Prema Powerteam, took top spot with a time of 1m24.218s, and will be joined on the front row by team-mate Nick Cassidy, who ended 0.081s back.

Motopark’s Red Bull-backed Niko Kari impressed on debut to qualify third, just 0.248s back on the pole time, while George Russell of Hitech GP will join the Finn on the second row, with the Briton just 0.023s behind.

Joel Eriksson will start his first European Formula 3 race from ninth in the third Motopark entry, while the top ten is rounded out by Carlin’s Alessio Lorandi.

It was a disappointing session for the highly rated quartet of the Van Amersfoort Racing team, with Harrison Newey the best of the foursome in twelfth, with Anthoine Hubert thirteenth, Pedro Piquet fifteenth and Callum Ilott eighteenth.